
Author 



Title 



Imprint 



16—47372-3 OP 



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}^. 



WGGkZ 



Ift i|iram Etunion. 



Poem and Address, 



■|<i<:ktiiki; w ri'ii , \iK 



(OXSTITCTIOX AM) OKFICi!;'!^, 



OF T 1 1 !■: S () ( ' I K T V 



y 



vJTJIsrE l-i, 18S7. 



-^y 






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i^'u-ruc. > 



fcy~> 
innn llmuion. 



Poem and Address, 



TOO ETHER WITH TUE 



CONSTITUTION AND OFFICERS 



OF THE SOCIETY. 



JTJlsriE] 14, 18G7. 




CLEVELAND, OHIO 
1867. 



^ 



ISTOI\\\ 



Tho first Rennion of Eclectic Stucleuts was held at 
Ilbani, Auyiist 31st, 18G6. Tlie call Ava>^ intbnual and 
the uiHice short, yet there was a Uiri^e assciuhlage of 
students and friends. After spending the day and eve- 
ning togeilier, it was resolved to continue the reunions, 
A Managing Conunittec, consisting of two ladies and 
llirei> gmitlemen, was appointed. This Committee made 
( hoice of Friday after Connncnceinent, June 14th, 18G7, 
as the day for the second reunion. The Committee 
also made arrangements for a Poem and an Address. 
The reunion took place ou the day mentioned — a joyous 
meeting <^f old and new friends. It was decided to 
form a Society. This decision was carried into eti'ect by 
adopting a Constitution, and electing Officers. Arrange- 
ments were also made for publishing the proceedings of 
the day. This little publication is sent out in the hope 
that it will be kindly received by those to whom it is 
especially commeud(-'d— the old and new students of 
the EoLKCTic. 



p 



OEM, 



BY AL.MED.\ A. BOOTIT. 



Wc come to meet them here, 

Om" frieuds from far and near; 

To meet with love sincere and true, 

Eclectic friends both old and new, 

And welcome give. 

Away witli toil and care, 
'Mid scenes so bright and fair; 
The bustling world bid go its A\'ay, 
And let, for one iinfettei-ed day, 
The past re-live. 

The playful mind at ease. 

Its sjiorlive self will please 
Witli ringing laugh and merry jest, 
And find no harmless mirth rci»-essed, 
Or awed 1)y fi^ars. 

Here kindling eyes will greet, 
When friend with friend shall meet; 
Here hearts will ache and tears will flow. 
When recollection back shall go 
To other years. 



Oa this fiimiliax- ground 

Inspiring life we found, 
While toilsome years, j^et peaceful days, 
Went hast'uiug on their changeful ways, fe^ 
With ceaseless flow. * 

Here (Vv's \a ere cahu and bright. 
And iii'.irts Merc piu'e and hglil ; 
Here notes of joyous hope were sung, 
A.nd brows were fair and souls were youi 
With geu'rous glow. 

Here kindred hearts were found, 
And friends for life were bound; 
Here Love threw round liis mystic chain 
One linii of ioj and one of pain, 
In sweet accord. 

Here truth and love divine 

T3id heart and soul refine, 
When peace and trusting faith ))egan 
x\ pure and noble life for man, 
B}^ gi'ace restored. 

Here high resolve grew strong. 

To battle 'gainst the wrong; 
Ambition sat with folded wing, 
N"ot dreaming yet that tame would bri^^, 
Exalted place. 

Here nature, too, we love — 
The earth, the skies above ; 
Wo love full well the distant view, 



Wliere laiulscnpc imcis the other hhui 
111 fbml ('iiil)ra(;e. 

At early liour ot' dawn, 

O'er hi)l and slo|iiii<i' lawn, 
IIow braiitifiil the rising- luist, 
When morning beam its face has kissed 
With rosy bhish ; 

A hri>ad and shallow lake. 

AVherc tree-tops islands make; 
Then morn hequcaths her mist to noon 
For manth^ liliie, l)nt reddened soon 
In evenin'j; flush. 

A lovely home for truth 
To guide the steps of youth, 
Whore peace and innniM'iiee control, 
And quiet beauty leads the soul 
lu wisdom's ways. 

In weary hours and sad, 

When life is darkly clad, 
n hours when passiims fiercely burn, 
Icgretful mora'ry here will turn 
To tranquil da_ys. 

Our ulmi-niater true 
Has unmbcred years but few ; 
These children lads and lasses grown, 
Ere yet was laid her corner-stone ; 
She is not old. 



Amid lier youthful scenes, 
In truth she's in her teens, 
Yet stories long she could relate, 
Adv^enturcs strange and changes great 
By her be told. 

Slie saAv the grandest sight, 

A nation's rising might; 
She saw, when deadly conflict rose. 
Her children fall by southern foes 
A sacrifice. 

She gave with prayers and tears, 
With mingled hopes and fears, 

Her bravest sons, her treasiu-cs rare; 

In silent grief she leaves them there, 
Where glory lies. 

She saw fell slavery gone, 
And liailed a brighter , dawn ; 
Redeemed, she felt the nation stand, 
And looked upon lier native land 
As saved anew. 

No party name she wears — 

No factious spirit shares; 
For human kind she sets no bar; 
The sons of eartli all brothers are, 
Though strange their hue. 

As washed on either side 
Her country is by ocean tide. 
She looks for millions yet to go 



O'er sunny plains and hills of tnow, 
In mingk'd tlirong. 

She sees a ripeninj? field, 
That harvests ricli will yield 
Of huuiau souls, but rcapei-s few, 
And trusts her sons she may imbue 
With purpose strong. 

She boasts no high-born name — 

Plebeian is her fame; 
No lordly footstep in her halls, 
No courtly grace witliin her walls, 
No pride of birth. 

Yet elegance refined 

She scelvs and hojios to find 

In dauglitors gentle, sons well-bred ; 

For noble rank, she takes instead 
Their modest worth. 

New names for mater dear, 

As college, we shall hear ; 
Though titles such slie choose to don, 
No airs we think she's putting on, 
Slie iias good sense. 

With titles old or new. 

We know she's staunch and true; 
If graceful honors she may wear, 
For names her children little care 
Nor take offense. 



10 

She sits like nature's queen, 

To rule this goodly scene; 
While mind with thought she fills, 
As pure as snow that drifts her hills 
In winter time. 

Observed on every side, 

Her light she may not hide, 
For nature's laws she's called to bound 
With rev'rent care, and show what's ibund 
In every clime. 

Between the scotFer's rant 

And bigot's idle cant 
The line of truth is her's to scan. 
To show "the ways of God to man," 
And faith restore. 

Still for some good she'll seek 

In Latin and in Greek. 
These noble tongues she'll not desert, 
Till reason sti'ong shall her convert 
From classic lore. 

On her may fortune smile. 

Her name no blot defile ; 
May long and vig'rous life be hers, 
The fame that honest worth confers 
Her rightful meed. 

May heaven's holy page. 

For all, in youth and age. 
Its richest, highest blessings bring, 
O'er all a crown, a glcry fling. 
Our I'reatcst need. 



/ 



DDR^SS. 



UY r,. A. UIXSDALK 



( ) r ji A N n N K w FiM k vds : 

You luive not assembled on tliis inteivsting 
occasion for tlio purpose of listening to a long and 
lal)or('d address. The most l)eautiful Ihonglits, 
dropped 1'roni tlic most eloquent lips, could 
not, and should not, make you forget the o1»ject 
of our meeting. It is to revive the old time, 
to Use oyer the old lite, to strengthen friendships 
decaying through lapse of time, that we have 
come together. We have come to look into the 
windows through which the light of our study- 
lamps once shone, to walk through the rooms 
whei-e once we recited, to tread the ground 
where once we trod, some of us with lighter step 
and fn.'cr heart than now, to anniliilate the time 
that has sped away since we left these pleasant 



12 

scenes, to think of the absent living and of the 
absent dead. 

We boys have come to mingle again in the fray 
of debate, to reconnt the triumphs of the past, 
to ask the girls with whom we walked and talk- 
ed when younger than now, to sit with us under 
the shade of tlie trees, around whose roots we 
carefully sifted the mellow earth in the sj^ring- 
time long gone by. And you girls have come 
to revive in niemory the generous emulations 
of other days, and to talk, in your modest way, 
with the boys at whose knock you were once 
accustomed to throw open your doors on Satur- 
day afternoons. These are the objects of our 
assembling, and not to listen to a formal address. 
You do not expect me to unfold any theme phi- 
losophic, historic, political, or literary ; nor is such 
my purpose. Neither is it in my head or heart 
to detain you long. 

However it might be at other re-unions, there 
is but one line of thought proper to be present- 
ed at this, and that is suggested by the circum- 
stances under which we have come together. 
The future is not to be as the past ; old things 
are to pass away, all things are to become new. 
Some words and phrases that we have loved are to 



13 

fall into (llsiiso ; other words and phrases, stranqr", 
and to som(^ of us uncouth, are to supersede them. 
KoT.KOTic iNSTniTE — name never to he forgot- 
ten! — i>'iv("s ]>laee to Hiram C'ollege; " new stu- 
tlents^aiid ''advanced students," yield their ])Ia- 
ces to Freshmen and Seniors; the unpretending 
•'teachers," who taught us in tlie good old time, 
resign their chairs to Professors; and, miserabile 
oixn et dh-tx^ "• old students" will be followed l)y 
a full-fledged brood of Alumni; and then such 
words as "graduate" and " under-graduate," 
"•diploma" and "degree," will figure in the new 
terminology to the shame and confusion ot those 
of us who are doomed to get on througli life, as 
best we may, without sheepskin backing. This 
re-union sees the last of the old school, sad as 
the thought may be. Soon we may say: 

" His face is <j:rowiii2: sharp ami thin, 

Alack ! our friend is gone. 
Close lip his eyes ; tie w\s his chin ; 
Step from the corpse and let, liini in 

That standoth there alone, 

And waiteth at the door. 
There is a new foot on the floor, my friend, 
And a new face at the door, my friend, 

A new face at the door." 

And yet before we "let him in," let us fix 



14 

clearly in our minds the form and features of 
the friend whose place he takes. Ot course I 
shall be obliged to talk a good deal about our- 
selves, but tliat, under the circumstances, will be 
allowable. There are some occasions wlien 
egotism is not only pardoned but ex])e('ted, and 
I presume s<-!iool re-iniions imij be reckoned 
among lliem. Somewhei'c I have read of a 
German whose self respect was so great that he 
never referred to himself without taking off his 
hat. In imitation of this cimiplacent German, 
let us don our hats and iiroceed to di-aAv ont a 
liistorlc sket<'h that Mill l)e in part a, recoi-d of 
our ov,n achieveuieuts and a irtues. 

Like iiiost great characters, the Eclectic Insti- 
tute was born of poor but res}»ectal)le parents. 
Its coming was Avithout observation. Its life 
has been one of toil and trial. It has li>ed 
on througb seventeen years solely because it 
won its way to the hearts of the people. And 
still the truth compels me to say that since these 
grounds were purchased, this building erected, 
and both paid for, the teachers who have taught 
in these halls have made the only consideral:)le 
sacrifices that have been made in its behalf I 
will take the responsibility of saying that in 



15 

those sovx'iiteoa yo;irs, no school in tlic 8t:v1o, 
hiiviiig at its coininand no ijjivatcr losoiirccs, 
lias Jonc i>ior<' ior the cause of education. K.rlec- 
tic students are still ycMui'S^ nu-n and youni'' 
women. And the next ten or twenty years will 
emphasize the statement that they have won lor 
tliemselves hisj-h places of usefulness aisd honor 
in society. Kclcctic l)oys have wroui;-ht n<ih!v; 
in tln' school-r(_)om, on the farm ; in thearn)\-, on 
the editorial stall"; in the pul|»it, at the hai-. As 
a class t-liey do not fail hut succeed. And then 
Ech'ctic girls area very iniiHh/ sort of girls; 
they make good wi\es and mothers, and no 
higher com})liment could he pai<l them even in 
the age of Uosa Bonheur, Eli/.aheth Jjarretl, 
and Anna Diekenscm. 

Standing thoi as we do to-day O!) the pivotal 
point in the Eclectic's history, it is well worth 
our while to in(]uire, What have been tlie ruling 
ideas that have insured tliis success in the past 
and tiiat deserve to he pei"j>etuated in tlie futui'e? 
Of these ideas there are three, and I shall name 
them, Ijut without any attempt to put tlieni in 
the order of their value or pronunence. 

First, I shall name the idea of a self-reliant 
manhood — that interior foi"ce or energy whicli 



16 

enables its possessor to stand up on his own in- 
dividuality, and work his way to success.-r- 
Many institutions are surrounded by an effem- 
inating, emasculatijig atmosphere, tliat unfits tlie 
man who breatlies it for the real work of life. 
If you immerse a bone in some acids the earthy 
matter is renu)ved, and only a soft, plastic, gela- 
tinous pulp is left ; so these institutions destroy 
the very skeleton of character and leave a 
vspongy moluscous creature, entirely imable to 
push his way in the world. Such institutions may 
give expansion to the mind and gentleness to 
the heart, but they are not the sort of institu- 
tions for to-day. They could be tolerated in the 
past when the difference between the scholar and 
the worker was more clearly defined than now, 
when learning was a guild and protected by the 
conventionalities of society ; but now when the 
scholar is beginning to be a worker, and the 
worker is beginning to be a scholar, they wdll 
not supply our educational wants. Buckle, in 
one of his essays, inveighs strenuously, almost 
bitterly, against tlie weakness and helplessness of 
literary men ; but the fact which he deplores is 
due, in large measure, to the failure of schools, 
colleges, and universities to infuse into their 



17 

students a scli'-reliant manliood. Tho scholar 
who is uiiahlc (o take can', of liiinsclf, avIio is a 
pau2)er ui)Oii (he world, dcsevvodly falls into cou- 
tcnipt. Yoiiiii^ men have here been taught that 
success is /// t/ie in,(ii, and does not gi'ow out of 
fortuitous circuinstances; thvy ha\c lueii tniioht 
to jireach their own st'nn(»iis, make their own 
spceelies, teach their own schools, and that theirs 
will he the success and theirs the failure. 

One ini[i(u1ant part of this healthy discipline 
lias hoen to impress the desirahility, the nices- 
sity even, of hciiio- ahle to do more than one 
thing. Division of lahor, as the economists call 
it, is g'0(^d, essential in<leed to the ju'ogress of so- 
ciety, hut tluM\' is sonu' H'ason to fear that it is 
heing pushed too far. It is well to have more 
tlian one string to your how, whether you spell 
it h-o-w or h-e-a-u. The results of this kind of 
<lis(ij)Iine are very ohservahle. Ec-lectic stu- 
dents are ahle to take care of themselves. — 
Other schools may semi forth more finished 
scholars, hut woiw send (»ut more helpful nu'U 
ami Avomen. T know no Eclectic students who 
are learned [taupers — none who arc begging 
their l>read and cheese. 

As the second of these ideas, I shall nanu^ that 



of a miiftcular morality reinfovecid by a practi- 
cal religion. Tlio motto lias been, " Quit you 
like men, be strong." Too often has morality 
been divorced from maidiness, an<l religion from 
character ; tlie one l>eing made to consist of dry 
ethical foi-mula^^ withont heart, nnd the other of 
pietistic nnuitliings Avithcut life. One of the most 
painful chapters in the history of the Church, 
is that in wliicli we read of religion being driven 
away into the wilderness of dogma and formula, 
to be tenqited and overcome 1)y tlie devil ; and 
in the future one of the most i)leasing chapters 
will be that in Avhich men )-ead of its return to 
tlie alxtdes of man, to be renniniated by the 
Spirit of God. 

It hns often been set down to the credit of the 
Eclectic that from lier walls have gone forth a 
large number of preachers, and justly so. But 
the number of theologians, in the technical 
sense of the term, has been small. I shall not 
be sorry if that number is not materially in- 
creased in the future. It is exjiected that more 
attention will hereafter be paid to -fitting men 
for the ministry, I bid those Avho have this 
work at heart a god-speed; and yet with all 
my love for these walls, fragrant with the mem- 



10 

ories of the past, I would ratlu'i- see them crum- 
ble haek to the ehiy and limestone ol" Avhicli 
they were maiU', than to liear them echo the 
foot fails of mouilu'Vs of formulas, pedillers of 
do2,-inas, and hunters of heresy. 

Tliis iiistilutiou has dune soiiutliinu-, as T veril^'^ 
believe, in calling,' the attention of men hack to 
more Avholesome idi'as concerning religion. T 
fervently ho[)e that the idea here unfolded, a 
muscular morality reinforced hy jiractical lelig- 
ion, under whose benign inthu'uce so many nobU; 
natun's have expanded in the past, will be the 
pole-star oC till' futuiH'. 

As the third and last of these ideas, I name 
' tlu' free s[tirit, the intellectual toleration, the 
large-minde'liiiss that has characterize<l the 
Kclectic. Xothing destroys a man sooner or 
more eftectually than narrowness. What the 
naiud needs is room. We want roomy men, 
roomy books, roomy schools, ^[en are sur- 
rounded by an atmosphere* Ymi have luvathed 
tiu' close, oppressive, stifling atmosphere, laden 
will) the carbonic acid gas of party and si'ct,that 
envelopes some men. From such an atmos- 
phere you feel that you must escape or die of 
mental asphyxia. Again you have met men of 



20 

a broad horizon of thought, their intellectual 
boundaries stretching away on every side be- 
yond your fiartherest reach. The atmosphere 
of these is bracing, invigorating, full of the ox- 
ygen of our modern civilization. You will cry 
out in exultation, " Here I can grow to the ex- 
tent of my capabilities." 

What I have said of men holds true of books. 
Some are small, narrow, seven by nine, where 
you will die of suffocation ; others are large, 
roomy, where you are in no danger of being 
cramped to death. It holds true also of schools. 
From some a large, roomy-minded man never 
goes forth. For an extreme case take the 
schools of the Jesuits. For two centuries in 
them was trained the best mind of the Catholic 
church ; who can name a mind of the first order, or 
even of the second, that they gave to the world? 
Other schools have the power of enlarging what 
is small, of expanding what is narrow, of mak- 
ing liberal, if not great, thinkers out of average 
minds. It therefore becomes all Avho have their 
own healthy growth at heart, to be sure of the 
atmosphere before they take a man, a book, or 
a school into their confidence. 

For a school to be roomy it is not necessary 



21 

for it to bo cither old or ridh ; not neccBsary 
that it have numerous and costly Inuldinijs or 
colossal libraries. Indeed these, insuring as 
they frequently do conservatism, may defeat the 
very end in view. Look at Oxford. Its nnnie 
carries us back to the time of the Saxons. — 
Thei-e, says Goldwin Smith, "art- the annals of 
Engh-md written in gray stone." It Avas a place 
of education in the time of iVlfred, whose l>irth- 
place was hard by. It was afterwards the home 
of Duns Scotus, of Occam, of Wickliffe. Ac- 
cording to one of the old chroniclers, in the reio-n 
of Henry III, 30,000 students gathered there to 
attend the lectures. Tliere are the venerable 
colleges founded liy Walter de Merton, William 
of Durliam, and Cardinal Wolsey. There is 
the gi'cat liodleian library, rich in tlie tomes of 
all languages and all ages. All this excites our 
interest and fires our imagination, and yet the 
writer just mentioned says, " Nowhere do you 
feel more the power of the past, and the ascenden- 
cy of the dead over the living. This influence, 
in truth, weighs somewhat too heavily on the in- 
tellectual life of Oxford. An Oxfoi'd student 
can preserve his independence and even his 
individual activity of mind, only by cultivating 



22 

a very l;irge and liberal interest in the general 
fortunes and destinies of liumanity.'" True, in- 
deed ! When has Oxford chanipione<l a single 
eanse wliose purpose was to give more room to 
Man? It is no woiidor that the iconoclastic Pu- 
ritans dealt so Imrshly, savagely even, \s'ith this 
fVnuons scat of loariiijig. But, thank God, we 
can have room without asking leave of venera- 
ble univci'sities. Says a ivcent writer: "The 
great revolutionists liave generally been cradled 
in mangers, and liave gone tlirongh rougli dis- 
cij^line in early life. Civilization is indebted to 
lowly cradles, and unknowJi rnotliers hold a 
heavy account against the world." 

I am crying out against narrowness. God 
cries out against it too. In Xature, in Revela- 
tion, in History, He enters His protests. Let us 
take one or tAvo illustrations from tlie latter. 
With all my veneration for the Scriptures, high- 
ly as I value our Christian civilization, essential 
even to the temporal welfare of man as I con- 
ceive the Gospel to be, I am still compelled to 
say that Christendom is too assmning. Every 
fair-minded man must concede that there are 
sources of culture, intellectual, jesthetic, moral 
even, for winch we are indebted neither to Chris- 



2;i 

tiiii'ily nor to tln^ C'lnircli. 'I'licio is a, sio-iiif). 
caiicc of \\]i'(^li Kome of us may not Ijc 
awaiv, ill the fact tliat tlic (li-ccls, l»t'licvtM-s as 
tiicy wrrc' ill Zeus, and I'aii, and A])ollo, held 
tlu' Li'att'way oC tlic AVcst in tlic t':\cv of Kastci-n 
iinasioii until t]\v ])olitical indrjH'iidcncc of 
Kuro[n' was srciircd, laid tlic foundalions of 
.scioncc, souiidc-d the dcjitlis of ])liiloso|)1i v, cul- 
tivated all forms of a'stln-tic cxjUTssion, in a 
\voi"<l, kiuilK-d llic lord) of kuowlcdL','' tliat tlio 
after g'eiierations are proud to hand (»n, blown 
into a fiercer flame, to the cominii" ajj;es. 

A^'ain, Cliristeiidinii has never aekuowled^cd 
its ohlin-ations to Islam. The stream of Chi-is- 
tian ei\ili7,a1 ion has reeei\ed few lu'oader 
afllueiits than that which sprung- from the little 
oasis in Arahia, where stood the city of Medina. 
It entei'ed Kuro[)e from the West. It o-athered 
a miujhty head iu tlu' schools of Toledo and 
Oord(tva, only to flow, over the Pyrenees intcv 
France and Sicily. It watere<l the south of 
Krauce, the Leantifnl provinces of Provence and 
Lanii'uedoc, and there bh"»ssomed out the freest life 
that Europe had known for centuries. Freedom 
of tliouo-ht gave birth to heresy, as the clinrcli 
termed it, and heresy to persecution. While 



24 

Europe Avas indebted to the Mohammedans, to- 
gether with the Jews, for this free devek^pment, it 
was the bishop who claimed to sit in Peter's 
chair, and wlio certainly rided all that was left in 
Europe of the churches founded by the labors of 
Peter and Paul, who inaugurated the crusade 
which devastated those Provinces, destroyed 
learning, huslied the song of the Troubadour, 
and made the green hillsides and valleys run 
red with blood. 

These are large tacts and well worth our 
study. They are God's protests in History 
against the nai-rowness of men. They prove 
that each nation has its work to do, that " men 
of every clime and race are necessary to make 
up the entire of God's idea of humanity." Still 
we must not forget that these streams are only 
affluents feeding the stream of Christian civili- 
zation which is sweeping on to the ocean of the 
world's destiny. The Ohio feeds the Mississip- 
pi ; the Mississippi flows to the sea ! The Pagan 
civilization of Greece is dead, and so is the Mo- 
hammedan civilization of Arabia and Spain; 
but the waters of these two affluents make up 
no small share of the larger stream upon which 
we ride. 



This is Avliat [ inoaii Avlioii T say the, spirit of 
I.Ik' ICck-ctic has Ix'Cii free, toh'raiit, largr-iniiKl- 
cil. IIci-o we liavc'hail room. As a class Eclec- 
tic stu<l('rits aro iiolilicr parrisaii;-! in tlio State 
nor soetarie's in the C'hvircli. The th.ree ideas 
wliich I ]i,i\c iiiiioliloil, ]ia\e Ic'cn the dominaiit 
(•lies ill the Eclectic polity. I <lo not say that 
no otJiers shouhl be incorporated with them in 
the fntiire; hut tliis I sav, I shall he sorry to see 
any of these abandoneil. 

r have referred to the ch.iiige Ihat is to occur 
ill the character of the school. The I'mard of 
Triisti'es has decided that tlie Ecl(>ctic Institute 
shall Ite TTiram College. This is not the place 
to discuss the wisdom of its action. Indeed, 
such 'liscussioii will he (jf little jtroiit at any 
time. The decree has gone forth; the child 
is bora. If those who stood sponsors for it at 
the baptism are perplexed to liiid swaddling 
bands to cover its nakedness, itdoes not con- 
covu us. What I call upon every one sharing 
in this reunion to do, what T call u])on every 
Hiram student to do, is to stand by the (\)llege. 
It- will be a new frieml, but it will have an old 
face ; Ave will cherish the daughti'r because we 
have loved the mother. I do not mean that 



26 

we are to be its fulsome eulogists, its narrow 
jDartisans. That cannot be asked at our haiids. 
To l)e sucli we must forgn^t the liljeral teaching 
of the past, and tliat T, for one, can never do. 
But Avliat I mean is this: that the weight of 
our iuilui'ue*. — and we ai'e numei'ous enough and 
old enougli to have some influence — shall be 
on its side. 

The character and fate of a school are largely 
in the hands of those who luive enjoyed its 
benefits. 

The Alumni of a College, when they become 
numerous, can mahe or unmake it; and the 
thousands who have been taught in these halls 
can be of very essential service to this institu- 
tion in this the crisis of its history. I have 
said the crisis of its liistory. Sucli it is. Two 
or tlircc years, and pt'riuips iniu-li less time, 
will determine whether it is to be more or less 
than it has licen ; perhaps they Avill determine 
whether it is to be more or nothing. Let us 
not then go from this reunion to our homes, un- 
til we have pledged ourselves to the ncAV enter- 
prise. 

Old school frieiuls : I am glad to be able to 
meet you at this reunion. It does me good to 



look into your faces ainl to licur your words. 
W(,' iKH'd sytn[>:itliy ainl iutcrcoiiimiinii alioii oi" 
tlioiiglit. As we give ourselves to our ''lieavy 
j«M( oC woriv," ^yo fref|ueiit!y sta^'cer and almost 
iaU under the burtlien. Sonietinu's my lieiirt 
sinks, and I say, I miglit as well try and piisli 
o\('r one of tlie ])ynin)ids l»y laying' my liand 
au'aiust it, as to try to raise men t(t a liii^lier 
]ilane o\' liCe. Yon, I doul)t not, Ikiac similar 
feelino's. We will go to onr homes and to our 
work, stronger for liaving sliared togetlu'r the 
joys of tills amiiversary. 

IMany whom we. would have been jileasi'd 
to sii' and take hy the hand, are not w itli ns. 
Some whose hearts are here are detained at 
home l»y thcii' Imsiness; some, like the niendiers 
of an ancient church, ha\i' lost (heir lirst love 
and are kept away hy their in<lillerence ; some, 
thonL;li I trust the nuinbi'r is not large, may 
have fallen into evil ways and lia\ c not cared 
to show their faces; some rest in known and 
SOUK' in unknown gra\»'s. AN-^hile we re- 
member all these in kindness, dropping a tear 
for the dead and putting uji a ])rayer for the 
fallen, let us thaids; the Intinite Father that so 
many liave b(.'en able to meet together. 



28 

Still farther: let iis not abandon these ro- 
unious. Tliey will do tis and tlio college good. 
AVe shall value them more and more highly as 
older we gro^v\ Pretty soon an occasional " old 
fellow" will get "mixed with the hoys;" and as 
we go sweeping past mile-stone after mile-stone 
along tlie high-road of life, as one after another 
falls out of the column and is borne away by 
strong arms to a home on the hillock or in the 
valley, there to rest under the shade of green 
trees until the Fatlun- calls him; as we in- 
crease in wisdom and in goodness, those who 
keep their liearts young Avill more and more 
love to come up to these annual rallyings. 

Nor niiist I close without a word for the fu- 
ture. Great things have come to pass since the 
feet of some of us first pressed these floors. 
We behold a country freed from the giant sin 
of its youth. A new era is opening. Thei'e 
is work to be done for the country, for man, for 
God. Upon the American scholar devolves no 
light responsibility. Shall w^e not return from 
this anniversary to our homes resolved to du 
our share? 

" We are living, we are dwelling 
In a grand and awful time, 



29 

In an age on ages telling; 
To be living is sublime. 

ILirk! the onset! will ye fold yonr 
Faith-clad anus in lazy lock? 

Up! O, up ! thou drowsy soldier; 
Worlds are charging to the shock. 

Worlds are charging, heaven b<.'holding; 

Thou hast but an hour to fight ; 
Now, the blazoned croAvn unfolding, 

On ! rigid, onward for the right. 

On! let all the soul within you 
For the truth's sake go abroad ; 

Strike ! let every nerve and sinew 
Tell on ages — tell for God." 



CONSTITUTION 



Wo, tho former iiud pi'csent Students of the 
EcJLECTic T>fSTrruTE, at this Reunion jisserablecl, 
do liereby ory-:ini/-e ourselves into a society 
based on the following- Constitution: 

For the purpose of perpetuatiiiG; the pleasant 
memories of our student life at Hiram, we liere- 
by ordaiji and estahlish a society to be known 
as Tin: Hiram Keuxion. 

Airri(i,E 1. The officers of this Society shall 
consist of a Mastev of Ceremonies, Alternate, 
and Scribe, to be elected annually. 

Ar.TicLE 2. In addition to their usual duties, 
these officers shall constitute an Executive 
Committee to make all arrangements for the 
ainiual meeting of the society, which shall bo 
held Commencement week. 



32 

Article 3. The following persons are hereby 
declared life members of this society: 

1st. All who at any time are or have been 
Students, Teachers, Lecturers or Trustees of the 
Institution at Hiram, 

2d. All Iiusbands and wives of such Students, 
Teachers, Lecturers or Trustees. 



OFF I C E K S . 

J. A. Garfield, - Master of Ceremonies. 

H. M. James, Alternate. 

Mrs. Hettib Smith Clark, - - Scribe. 



